Agitating apparatus for tray icecream freezers



Jan. 20, 1953 w, w, PARKER 2,626,134

AGITATING APPARATUS FOR TRAY ICE-CREAM FREEZERS Filed April 29, 1949 2 SHEETS--SHEET 1 H6. I k 36 INVENTOR. WILLIAM W. PARKER & Attorne Jan. 20, 1953 w, w, PARKER 2,626,134

AGITATING APPARATUS FOR TRAY ICE-CREAM FREEZERS Filed April 29, 1949 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2 I N VEN TOR.

WILLIAM W, PARKER,

94% 4 Ahorney Patented Jan. 20, 1953 AGITATIN G APPARATUS FOR TRAY ICE- CREAM FREEZERS William W. Parker, Newport News, Va., assignor to William W. Parker, Jr., and Robert N. Parker, Newport News, Va., a partnership Application April 29, 1949, Serial No. 90,418

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in agitating apparatus, and is more particularly concerned with an improved agitating'apparatus of the type disclosed in my prior Patent No. 2,053,627, dated September 8, 1936, which, although not limited thereto, is especially designed for use as a tray freezer adapted to freeze ice cream, ices and the like within the ice cube compartment of a domestic mechanical refrigerator.

Continuing experience with the tray freezer according to my patent aforesaid demonstrated its complete workability and practical nature, but it also evidenced the desirability of improving the drive connection between the drive unit and agitator or dasher assembly thereof, and moreover of simplifying the operation of connecting the dasher assembly to and disconnecting it from the tray. It was also found that the scraper blades of the patented tray have a tendency to lift away from the plane bottom of the tray, to which the contents freeze faster than to the sides thereof, particularly when the freezing operation is near completion, with the result that the desired scraping or stirring action of the blades was less effective than desired.

A main object of the present invention is to overcome the aforesaid disadvantages of my prior tray freezer in such manner that the operation thereof is rendered more effective and its mode of use is simplified.

More detailed objects of the invention are to provide, in a tray freezer operating on the principles disclosed in my prior Patent No. 2,053,627

- aforesaid, a simplified yet effective driving connection between the drive unit and dasher assembly; to provide a mounting for the drive unit which renders the latter self-engaging; to provide a simplified mode of connecting the dasher assembly to and disconnecting it from the tray; and to provide an effective yet simple means of causing the working edges of blades to maintain contact with the tray bottom as they move across the same, whereby the blades function more effectively in stirring the tray contents.

The above and other objects and advantages of the improved tray freezer of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawing, wherein- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my improved tray freezer, with drive unit attached; I

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the tray and dasher assembly;

Fig. 3 is a section takengenerally on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, illustrating the manner of connecting the dasher assembly to and of disconnecting it from the tray;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 4--4-of Fig. 2, illustrating the action of the spring means in holding the blades against lifting;

Fig. 5 is a front or driving end view of the tray;

Fig. 6 is a rear or driving end view of the drive unit;

Fig. 7 is a partial sideview of the tray with drive unit attached thereto but disengaged; and

Fig. 8 is aview similar to Fig. 7 illustrating the drive unit engaged.

In the drawings, reference character It designates a tray-type vessel having a plane bottom, vertical end walls, and side walls which are oppositely radiused for the lower half of their depth about the tray center line" on which the agitator assembly operates, being vertical for the remainder of their depth l l designates an agitator or dasher assembly; and I2 an electric drive unit powering a slotted stud drive shaft l3 (Fig. 6) with oscillatory motion, which it transmits to the dasher assembly. The aforesaid dasher assembly ll comprises a driven elongated U- shaft l4 hingedly mounting a pair of scraper blades I5, I6 provided with stops l1, l8, respectively. Incident to the oscillatory movement imparted to thedasher assembly, the working edges of the blades closely follow theinner surfaces of the bottom and sides of the tray, thus to stir the contents thereof and thereby prevent formation of ice crystals. Since the aforesaid parts and their operation are disclosed in detail in my prior Patent No. 2,053,627, no further detailed description thereof is believed to be necessary here.

According to one feature of the present invention, drive to the dasher assembly, rather than being transmitted direct from drive shaft as in my prior patent, is transmitted through a rotary drive-transmitting and coupling-member 29 carried by the tray, beingjournaled in a bearing bushing 2| afiixed to the front vertical wall thereof. As illustratively shown, the coupling member comprises a solid stud formed with an en-' larged diameter head disposed to the inside of the tray and provided with a diameterical slot 22 (Figs. 2 and 3), and with areduceddiameter shank which extends forwardly through the bearing bushing and tray wall and terminates in a flattened key-like driving end 23 (Fig. 3 and 5) adapted to .be received in the'slot of the drive Shaft-I3! U ,N

, Being-driven bythe drive unit as will be explained, the coupling member 20 connects with the U-shaft 14 of the dasher assembly and transmits oscillatory motion thereto. To facilitate mounting of the dasher assembly in the tray, and at the same time to provide a driving connection between coupling member and dasher assembly, the rear vertical leg of the U-shaft l4 terminates in an offset end 25 (Fig. 3) extending on the axis of the oscillation of the U-shaft, being journaled in a bearing 26 fixed to the rear end wall of the tray. AS shown, the bearing 26 may comprise a rivet provided with an axial bore into and from which the offset end 25 of the U-shaft may be simply inserted and removed. The forward vertical leg 21 of the U-shaft has substantial length, so as to extend above the axis of oscillation and terminates at its upper end in a rearwardly extending finger grip 28 which, by reference to Fig. 3, is disposed within the vertical dimension of the tray. Intermediate its ends the forward leg 21 is bent rearwardly to provide a lengthwise indentation 2111 with forwardly extending humps 21b, 270 at the ends thereof, the indented por tion 21a being adapted to snap into the slot 22 of the coupling member 20 upon the U-shaft being operatively connected to the latter, as by registering said forward leg with the slot and pushing downwardly on the finger grip 28. The aforesaid indentation of the forward leg 21 of the U-shaft, combined with the action of the humps 21b, 27c and the spring action of the leg provided by its substantial length, aids in locating the forward I end of the dasher assembly and in resiliently locking it in place against unintentional removal, and the lower hump 21b additionally prevents the dasher assembly riding or being pushed upwardly by the tray contents as the latter becomes solidified.

Thus, the dasher assembly may be readily inserted in the tray and drivingly connected to the coupling member 20 by simply inserting the offset rear end 25 of the dasher U-shaft into the bore of the rear bearing 26, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3. Thereupon, the coupling member 20 is turned to the approximate position in which its head slot 22 is vertically disposed so as to line up with the forward vertical leg of the U-shaft. The forward end of the dasher assembly is now pushed downwardly by finger pressure applied to the grip 28, with the result that the forward vertical leg 21 of the U-shaft moves through the slot 22. Upon the dasher assembly being lowered sufficiently to seat the leg indentation 21a in the slot, the front end of the dasher assembly is properly located in the tray and at the same time is drivingly connected, to the coupling member 25. To disconnect the dasher assembly, it is necessary only to insert a finger below the hand grip 28 of the dasher assembly and to pull upwardly thereon. Due to the springy nature of the forward leg of the U-shaft, it may flex sufficiently as to permit its ready withdrawal from the head slot, whereupon the dasher assembly may be lifted bodily from the tray.

According to a further feature of the invention, the aforesaid drive unit I2 is so mounted that it not only maintains itself engaged when once engaged with the coupling member 28 but also that it is self-engaging therewith. This is achieved by hanging the driveunit from a ledge 30 formed on the tray to extend forwardly from the top edge of its front wall, so that it may bear against a vertical flange 3! depending from the ledge, when it is properly engaged with the coupling member 20. The drive unit casing is provided with spaced headed lugs 32, 32a (Fig. 6) and the ledge and flange 39 and 3! are provided with correspondingly spaced holes 34, 34a (Fig. 5) shaped to receive said lugs. The depth of the ledge is chosen so that when the lugs 32, 32a are received in the holes 34, 34a thereof, and the slotted-stud drive shaft is is fully engaged with the projecting end 23 of the coupling member 20, the drive unit is supported vertically against the ledge flange 3|, the weight of the drive unit maintaining the driving engagement.

Vertical disposition of drive unit as aforesaid assumes that the drive unit is initially hung or attached with the slot of its driving shaft 13 registering with the flattened end 23 of the coupling member 20. However, it ofttimes happens that when the drive unit is hung from the ledge, the shaft 13 and coupling member do not register due, for example, to the shaft and coupling member being out of phase, with the result that the drive unit supports itself from the ledge in the inclined position shown in Fig. 7. Assuming this condition, and also that the drive unit is now plugged in, the shaft I3 begins its oscillatory movement. During such movement, the shaft ultimately turns to a position in which its slot registers with the flattened end of the coupling member, whereupon the driving unit, being now free to move under its own weight to its vertical or engaged position, proceeds to do so and thereby engages itself with the coupling member. The aforesaid self-engagement of drive unit with coupling member is of practical advantage in that a filled tray may be inserted into an ice cube compartment of a refrigerator with drive unit detached. Thereupon, the drive unit may be hooked onto the tray ledge 36 and plugged into a suitable source, with assurance that the drive unit will self-engage itself with the coupling member under its own weight.

As above indicated, the scraper blades l5, l6 have a tendency to lift away from the plane bottom of the tray against which the tray contents freeze more solidly than to the side wall surfaces. This undesirable tendency is overcome according to the present invention through the provision of one or more springs, which operate between the blades to maintain their working edges in close contact with the tray bottom during their movement thereacross, one such spring 35 being illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4. It will be observed that said spring is spotted or otherwise fastened at its ends to the respective blades [5, (6 being bowed upwardly and provided in its middle section with an upwardly opening depression receiving the longitudinal cross part of the U-shaft it of the dasher assembly. The spring 35 thus functions to resist any raising of either blade consequent to its reaction on the companion blade, with the result that the working edges of the blades are held against the bottom surface of the tray with spring force and their stirring ac tion is enhanced.

As with the tray freezer of my prior patent aforesaid, .a removable tray cover 36 is provided to slide onto the open top of the tray, thus to prevent spillage of the tray contents and to enclose the moving dasher assembly in use.

From the above description, it will be observed that the improved freezer tray of this invention attains the desirable objectives set forth in the foregoing. The dasher assembly may be simply connected to and disconnected from the tray, and when connected, is drive-coupled to the coupling member 20 which transmits oscillatory movement thereto. As the. drive unit is self-engaging with respect to the coupling member. it

may be hung on the tray without the necessity of aligning the flattened end section of the coupling member With the slot of the driving shaft of the drive unit. This is a feature of practical advantage in permitting a tray with filled contents to be inserted into an ice cube compartment with drive unit detached. Due to the action of a simple form of spring 35, the working edges of the blades are caused to maintain scraping contact with the bottom of the tray in their movement thereacross, which gives the following desirable results: the liquid of the tray contents which solidifies first as a layer on the bottom of the tray instead of building upwards is broken up and thrown into suspension in the remaining unfrozen liquid, so that the needle crystals do not have time to grow and the ultimately frozen mas-s will be smooth to the taste; the frozen layer scraped from the tray bottom is displaced by the unfrozen liquid, which latter freezes at a faster rate upon contact with the cold tray bottom, giving an accelerated freezing of the tray contents; and effective stirring with accompanying distribution and blending of the solids in the ultimately frozen mass is achieved.

As many changes could be made in carrying out the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Iclaim:

1. In apparatus of the character described, the combination of a tray-type vessel, oscillatory agitating means including a U-shaft, and quickdetachable means for operatively mounting said agitating means in said tray, said last means including coaxially related bearing members permanently aflixed in opposite walls of the tray substantially below the top edge line thereof, one

of said bearing members being driven and having a diametrical coupling slot in its inner end :face, one leg of the U-shaft having an indented portion adapted to be received in said slot and outwardly directed humps at the ends thereof for locating and locking said indented portion with respect to said one bearing member, said vertical leg having sufiicient length as to extend through said slot approximately to the top edge line of the tray and being sufliciently flexible that its indented portion may spring-seat itself in the slot and the lower hu-mp may be drawn upwardly through the slot in removing the agitating means from the tray, the other leg of the U-shaft terminating in an axial ofiset adapted to be received in the other bearing member.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said one vertical leg terminates at its upper end in an inwardly directed horizontal ofiset providing a finger grip for lifting the agitating means from the tray.

WILLIAM W. PARKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,595,814 Becker Aug. 10, 1926 1,748,401 Scovel Feb. 25, 1930 1,880,021 McCauley et al. Sept. 27, 1932 1,977,548 Frenning et a1 Oct. 16,1934 2,017,116 B-onnell Oct. 15, 1935 2,053,627 Parker Sept. 8, 1936 2,085,160 Kaup et a1 June 29, 1937 2,182,712 Vogel Dec. 5, 1939 2,449,012 Schley Sept. 7, 1948 

